Death came without pain thanks to end-of-life care

It is not something we like to consider but the care we may wish to receive in the final days or weeks of life if suffering from a terminal illness can be recorded in case we cannot express ourselves at the time. Selma Daddi speaks to a reader about the palliative care given to his companion at a hospital in the Charente-Maritime.

Anne Mortimore wrote an “advance directive” detailing her wishes for her end-of-life care a few days before she died in hospital last October.

The 79-year-old, who had been a postmistress in rural Dorset before moving to France after she was widowed, lived in the Charente-Maritime for 18 years. She was diagnosed with cancer in 2013.

“It started with breast cancer,” said her companion of 12 years Michael Pearce, 72, who believed she would be cured after a few months like the doctors told her.